Young Artists

YOUNG ARTISTS

Winsor Music features Young Artists on many of the Chamber Series concerts, at least two every year. In 2012, two concerts featured a college-level student – one of whom was an alumnus of Project STEP, the other an alumnus of the Bach Institute – as well as Lev Mamuya, a 15-year-old cellist and a student of Project STEP, who wrote and performed in an extraordinary piece for oboe and strings, The Eagle. The experience of performing on the chamber series is incomparable: students are given the rare opportunity to perform with adult professionals, they are given valuable exposure to a faithful and well-informed audience, and there is always the potential for critical review by major Boston newspapers and arts journals.

Yuki Beppu, violin

Yuki Beppu was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1997 and moved to the United States with her parents in 1999. She started playing the violin at the age of four. She has been a student at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School (NEC) since 2003. She studies with Mrs. Kazuko Matsusaka, Ms. Julianne Lee, Mr. Joseph Silverstein, and Mr. Donald Weilerstein.

Yuki was a first place winner of the NEC concerto competition 2007 and appeared as a soloist playing with the NEC Youth Repertory Orchestra at the Jordan Hall in NEC (2008). She also received the Leonard D. Wood Awards (first place) at the Young Artist Competition 2008 of the Philharmonic Society of Arlington.

Yuki appeared in the Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Inauguration Gala with Lynn Chang and Yo-Yo Ma (2007). Her chamber music group “Trio Con Brio” performed for the radio program “From the Top” (2008). She also appeared in the Chamber Music Series of the Winsor Music (2009). She played with the Lexington Symphony (2010, 2011, 2013), Waltham Symphony Orchestra (2012) and Salem Philharmonic Orchestra (2012). Yuki was invited to perform for President Barack Obama and Governor Deval Patrick at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston (2010). Since 2009, she has been invited to have solo recitals in the Ishikawa Ongakudo and other places in Japan (2009, 2010, 2012).

Elliott Hines, baritone

Baritone Elliott Carlton Hines is a native of Houston, TX. Hines began his vocal studies with Dr. Timothy Jones and pursued his undergraduate degree at Oberlin Conservatory of Music under Mr. Salvatore Champagne. He was a finalist in the Oberlin Concerto Competition and was presented on the Danenberg Honors Recital at Oberlin . Hines took 1st prize at the 2011 Crescendo Music Awards and was a recipient of the Albert Rees Davis Scholar Award from the Singers Club of Cleveland.

Hines performed the roles of Don Inigo Gomez and Le Fauteuil/L’Arbre in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole and L’Enfant et les Sortileges as well as Krusina in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. He has performed on masterclasses with Denyce Graves and Marilyn Horne. He was the baritone soloist for the Durufle Requiem with Oberlin College Choir and the Mozart Coronation Mass with Oberlin Musical Union. In March 2013, he made his debut with Houston Bach Society, performing Jesus in the North American premiere of the newly reconstructed Bach Markus-Passion. He is currently pursuing his Masters degree at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Ms. Edith Wiens.

Sixteen year old cellist Lev Mamuya showed an extraordinary interest in music at an early age and began cello lessons at age three. Now a senior at the Roxbury Latin School, he studies cello with Michael Reynolds. Previous teachers include Paul Katz, Laura Blustein and Debbie Thompson. He has studied with Ronald Leonard at the Perlman Music Program over the past four summers.

An experienced soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, Lev is especially passionate about the quartets of Bartok and Beethoven. He gave his first solo recital at age five and made his orchestral debut at eight with the Cape Cod Symphony. Lev has also appeared with the Newton Symphony, the New Philharmonia Orchestra, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. He is an alumnus of the PBS radio program “From the Top” as well as the TV program “From the Top at Carnegie Hall.” He has won numerous awards, most recently first place in the junior division of the 2013 Sphinx Competition.

Lev has been an avid chamber musician since the age of six and has played in many groups over the years. He loves to share his passion for music and frequently performs in assisted living facilities in the Boston area. He has also appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at charitable events for many non-profits in the area.

In addition to performing, Lev composes music and is a founding member of the Composer Performer Repertory Ensemble. He has performed his own works as well as other members of the group at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, New England Conservatory and the Rivers School. He was commissioned to write and perform in several pieces for Winsor Music, including a piece titled “The Eagle” to commemorate the tenth anniversary of September 11.

Lev is supported by Project Step, a highly selective string training program for students of color. He was named the Kanter Kallman Scholar for the 2010-2012 academic year and the Campbell Scholar for this academic year. He plays on a cello made in 2002 by luthier Curtis Bryant of Watertown MA.

Gavin McGrew, tenor

Tenor Daniel McGrew is a native of Orange, California where he began his performance career as a boy soprano, and in high school, studied with Patrick Goeser of Chapman University. He has been involved with music for film and television and can be heard on the soundtracks of Battlestar Galactica and Superman Returns, among others.In 2010 he earned the first prize in the Classical Singer Competition, and in 2011 was honored in Washington D.C., where he performed at the Kennedy Center as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. In 2015, McGrew received his undergraduate degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He was an Oberlin Concerto Competition finalist, and upon his graduation, was honored with the Margot Bos Stambler Professional Development Award.

McGrew’s operatic roles include Torquemada in Ravel’s L’Herure Espagnole, Ecclitico in Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna, Albert in Britten’s Albert Herring, Orfeo in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, and Contino Belfiore in Mozart's La finta giardiniera. He has participated in masterclasses with Cynthia Munzer, Ari Pelto, Brian Zeger, and Marylin Horne. He has spent two winters with Emmanuel Music’s Bach Institute, and appeared as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem Mass with Oberlin’s Musical Union. McGrew is passionately engaged with the concert, chamber music, and song repertoires, and is currently pursuing his Masters degree from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music under James Taylor.

Andrew Lipian, countertenor

Countertenor Andrew Lipian is a native of Grafton, Ohio, and began studying countertenor at 16 years old at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. From his early studying, he had placed twice in 1st with back-to-back competitions for NATS of Ohio. In 2012, Andrew has been a scholar at the Bach Institute of Emmanuel Music in Boston, MA, where he studied and performed several Bach Cantatas under the guidance of musical luminaries such as Peggy Pearson, Pamela Dellal, Frank Kelley, Michael Beattie, John Harbison, and Kendra Colton. Recently, he received an Encouragement Grant from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competitions and appeared at the University of Michigan in April to perform Brahms' "Alto Rhapsody." Furthermore, Mr. Lipian will appeared with Winsor Music in Boston singing the alto aria in Bach’s “Cantata 12.” His summers consist of assuming varied roles in multiple theater companies as music director, director, and choreographer. He is both choreographer and director for “42nd Street” at Lorain’s Palace Theater and music director for “The Wizard of Oz” for a CAMEO production in the Cleveland area. Andrew recently graduated from Oberlin College, having studied with Ms. Colton during his time there. Currently, Andrew coaches with Martin Katz.

Joanna Manring, soprano

Described as having a “stylish, vibrant” sound, soprano Joanna Manring has been featured as a soloist at the Steamboat Springs Strings Festival; the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival; the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra; Syracuse Opera; the Lexington Chamber Chorale; and with the New York Chorale at Weill Recital Hall. She is the creator and director of the Jane Austen Singing School for Young Ladies, a historical performance group for teens. In 2012 she joined the faculty at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where she teaches voice and conducts the Transylvania University Singers.

Tony Rymer, cello

Cellist Tony Rymer has performed major concerti to critical acclaim with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Pops, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others. He was the First Prize Winner of the 2009 Sphinx Competition Senior Division and took 3rd place in the 2009 Stulberg International String Competition.

A native of Boston, Tony began playing cello at age five, attended the Walnut Hill Arts School, was a Project STEP scholarship student from 1996-2007, and was awarded the prestigious Kravitz scholarship in 2007. One of the first recipients of the Jack Kent Cooke Award on the NPR national radio show From the Top, he has also been heard as soloist on WGBH Boston, WCLV Cleveland, and NPR's Performance Today. An avid chamber musician, Tony has collaborated in concert with artists such as violinists Ani Kavafian, Miriam Fried, Itzhak Perlman, oboist Peggy Pearson, violists Kim Kashkashian, Barbara Westphal, and cellist Paul Katz.

Tony has played privately for Yo-Yo Ma and performed in master classes for Anner Bylsma, Steven Isserlis, and Pieter Wispelwey. He completed his undergraduate and Masters of Music at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Paul Katz and Laurence Lesser and held the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship.

Tony plays on a cello made by John Betts in 1785 on loan from the Ravinia Festival's Steans Music Institute.